"Who do you say
that I am?" Jesus asked. Simon Peter answered, "You
are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus
answered, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! ... You are
Peter(petros), and on this rock(petra)
I will build my church..." Jesus then began to speak of
the rough road ahead. And Peter took him aside and rebuked him... "Get
behind me, Satan!" Jesus replied. "You are a stumbling
block..."(Matthew 16:13-23)

May these words of this Peter be like a rock,
not a stumbling block!

"To an
ĎUnknown Godí"

Message preached May 5, 2002
Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Glen Arm, Maryland USA
based uponActs
17:22-31

(with remote in hand) Confession time. I have a peculiar habit which
drives my family crazy at times. Actually, I probably have many habits that fit
into this category, but Iím thinking of one in particular just now. You see, I
like to ... ah ... watch more than one television program at the same time. I
mean, why - when you have this powerful tool (remote) - be
satisfied with limiting yourself to one program, when thereís another show
that interests you? Flipping back and forth between the two allows you to catch
both.

The
obvious problem with this, of course, comes when there just happens to be more
than one person watching television. In our home, there is only one television
set, and it doesnít have all those fancy features that let you display more
than one station on the screen at the same time - just a remote, which (by the
way) constantly wanders off to some other hidden location. Our house is also
equipped with a wife and mother who is not a big fan of the boob tube, and says
so ... often.

There is
one other problem with trying to watch two programs at the same time. You see,
when I try to do this, I often miss the most important parts of both. Sigh.
Things would be even worse if we had cable in our home. Gosh, I might try to
watch more than two at the same time... So many choices, so little time!

Life is
full of choices, isnít it? Iím not just talking about which television
program to watch. There are a multitude of decisions we make every day. Some of
those decisions really matter, and making them is not easy. By making good
choices we take charge of our lives, we take responsibility. And that is good,
isnít it? - taking responsibility. Being in charge of your life. After all,
too many people arenít. They donít take responsibility. They choose to flow
with everybody else, to not make the hard decisions - which is a choice in and
of itself.

Of course,
there is much that happens in life over which we cannot "take charge."
Things happen beyond our ability to control, no matter what good or bad choices
we have made in our lives. Sitting with Ron and Lois in her hospital room this
week, she spoke with us about how she had tried to live a fairly healthy life,
but still came this disease called Leukemia. Something beyond our control - its
onset, though choices can be made in treatment. Hopefully, we pray, the
chemotherapy will do what it has for others. Still cancer is a pretty scarey
word, isnít it? So is the word Lupus. Again, another sister-in-the-faith
facing something big. How does one "take charge" of that? Donít you
wish we could just press a button on the remote control and make it disappear?
Change the channel. Turn it off.

Itís
when we face into these things that seem beyond our control that god enters the
picture. When I said "god" just now, I meant "god" without a
capital "G." Us human beings turn to something bigger than us when we
face things beyond our control. Like when farmers in days long, long ago
depended upon forces beyond their control - like weather; or when couples
depended upon something bigger than their ability to take charge of their lives
- like fertility, they turned to a "god" like "Astarte."

Was "Astarte,"
a fertility god in ancient Palestine, really able to do what people asked of
her. Well, many people believed, yes, and made offerings in order to earn help.
We may laugh today at the silliness of turning to something fashioned out of
clay, almost like a prehistoric Barbie doll, and worshiping it - thinking it
could be of any help. But we canít deny the feelings of powerlessness that lay
behind the need for such a god (with a small "g"). That sense of being
out-of-control, my friends, is still with us, as even today we face things that
appear much bigger than us and our ability to take charge of our lives.

Now, Iím
no expert when it comes to the elaborate system that Greek culture developed for
the gods they worshiped. Iíd be hard pressed to name them all - one god who
was in charge of this, another in control of that. In fact, Iíd probably mess
up and name the Roman version of a particular god. The Romans, by the way, werenít
as creative as the Greeks when it came to mythology, or even philosophy for that
matter. The Romans were classic borrowers, adopting various things from various
cultures and stamping it with a "McRome" seal, sort of like a first
century golden arches. To be honest, Rome of that time period bears a number of
similarities to American society today. But I digress.

When the
apostle Paul walked through the ancient city of Athens, he beheld the heart and
soul of Greek culture. Today, as we look back upon Athens, we see the so-called
cradle of democracy, the place where Western Civilization was born, a town whose
sons numbered some of the key philosophers to which people still turn. When Paul
was there, the glory of Athens was in the past. Its present was filled with
people who, while worshiping a past that no longer existed, were enthralled by
anything new that came along.

Walking
through the city, Paul saw the "gods" they worshiped, whether they
were the statutes that lined the streets of certain parts of town, or the
marketplace where their real gods were exchanged. Scripture says that what he
beheld deeply distressed him. He was, after all, a follower in the shoes of
Moses, who shared with the children of Israel the commandments of the most high
God (with a capital "G"), the One true "I am who I am." "You
shall have no other gods before me," the first commandment of this God
spoke (Deuteronomy
5:6-7). "Do not even try to make some object and think that I
am it, worshiping it," commanded the second (Deuteronomy
5:8-10).

Paul spoke
out about what he saw, as he waited for his companions to join him. Itís
interesting the reception he received in Athens, as opposed to what he
encountered in the last places he visited. In Thessalonika and Beroea, also
Greek towns, he was met by an angry response, mostly from those who also
followed the commandments of Moses, but who didnít care for this Jesus
character about whom Paul preached. In Thessalonika, he was dragged before the
town authorities and essentially was kicked out. His companions, Silas and
Timothy, remained behind to make connections and tie things up, while Paul moved
on to Athens.

In Athens,
people listened. Instead of dragging him to court to face some kind of judge,
Paul was invited to speak before the town council. These were a
"democratic" people, after all, and they loved anything new and novel.
As I listen to this story, though, what I hear is not so much a deep yearning
for something much bigger than they were. Instead I detect a desire for
entertainment. Paul was a new channel on the remote.

He spoke
quite eloquently before this august body. He had too. These were people used to
listening to philosophers like Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato (or at least the
students of these long-since dead men). Paul borrowed a statue he found in town.
Oh, not literally. He mentioned the altar which was inscribed "To the
unknown god" (little "g"), and took off from there.

"To
the unknown god." What a strange way of putting it. I guess if you want to
cover all bases when coming up with a pantheon of gods, you leave one blank -
just in case thereís something you forgot. Paul turned that statute into arrow
pointing beyond itself. "What you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to
you." In other words, "you may not know the real, true, ĎI am
who I amí God (with a big "G"), but this real, honest-to-God God
(with a big "G") can be known." In trying to make this God (with
a big "G") known to the people of Athens, Paul told it like it was.
That is, whatever is made with human hands, like some idol - or even some
masterful philosophy - is not really God (with a big "G").

I have a
sense those who listened to Paul knew this, deep down. After all, they were
smart folks. These werenít country bumpkins (though to be honest, Iíve met
some pretty intelligent persons whom someone else might consider a redneck or a
hillbilly). This was Athens, a place famous for deep thoughts. The story, as weíve
received it in the book of Acts, mentions disciples of the philosophers Epicurus
and Zeno
as being among the crowd. Neither school of thought placed much stock in those
statues. The Epicureans
believed in the moment, in whatever felt or tasted good. The Stoics
lifted up self-reliance, and a strict morality based upon personal
responsibility. The gods (little "g") behind their words, were not
really part of the Greek pantheon. You could say that for the Epicureans and the
Stoics, their god (with a little "g") was the human self. In other
words, "I" am god. Gee, Athens sounds pretty familiar, doesnít it?
And you know what? That statue "to the unknown god" (with a small
"g") could have been their idol. And that would have made sense, for
the human "self" can be just as "unknown" as any so-called
"god" (with a little "g").

To these
people, the apostle Paul spoke - as his words speak to us today - of a God (with
a capital "G") who can be known, who made everything that exists, who
is Lord of heaven and earth, who gives life to every living thing. From one
ancestor, whom the real God (with a big "G") created, all human beings
are descended. Therefore, by the way, no one race can claim to be better than
any other, no town can be the best that ever was - even if it produced some of
the greatest philosophers this world has ever known. By extension, folks, with
these words Paul also put Western Civilization in its place, since Athens was,
in many ways, its birthplace.

The real,
true God (with a big "G") even created us with the desire to seek him
out and, as revealed in Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead, to find God (with
a capital "G"). So said Paul to the Athensí town meeting (called the
Areopagus). Quoting some of their philosopher sons, Paul said of this God (with
a big "G"), "In him we live and move and have our being."
"We are his offspring." Therefore, "no deity made of
gold, or silver, or stone (or even words, for that matter), no image that
is the product of the human imagination" can be the true God (with a
big "G"), not even the self. "I" am not God (whether with a
little or big "G").

The true
God, the LORD GOD, commands, invites everyone to repent, e.g. to turn to him.
For the Lord God will judge the earth on the last day through the One who rose from
the dead. Thatís what Paul said to the people of Athens, what God says to us
today. Turn, not to some "unknown god" (with a little "g"),
but to the living God (with a capital "G") who can be known, revealed
in Jesus Christ.

As nice as
those folks in Athens were to Paul - not kicking him out as they did in
Thessalonika and other places, but politely listening to what he had to say - itís
interesting that very little happened with the gospel there. I mean, out of the
soil of Thessalonika, where Paul was treated so badly, grew a church that came
to be known for its warmth and faith. We have not one but two letters addressed
to those people in the New Testament as weíve received it. But there is no
vibrant Christian community remembered as springing from Athens. As far as I
know, this is the only place in the Bible where this town is mentioned. (see
17:16-18:1,
1
Thessalonians 3:1, though it did flourish
later somewhat)

There
were, however, two persons who responded to Paulís invitation on that day, a
fellow named Dionysius,
and a woman named Damaris. The question for you and me, then, is this - will we
respond like, it seems, most of those good people in Athens, who simply changed
the channel and surfed on to the next "new thing," or will we be like
Dionysius and Damaris? When push comes to shove, and things in life grow beyond
our ability to control, will we turn to the real, true, living God - who is not
unknown, but who seeks to make himself known to us every day? Will you turn to
God (with a capital "G")? The remote is in your hand, my friend, whatís
it gonna be?